GOT - Part 62
Highgarden. The Reach.
Despite the fact that he was one of them, Jon Snow, no he was Jon Stark now, didn't think much of knights. Oh, there were a few he admired or at least respected, such as Winterfell's Master-at-Arms Ser Rodrick Cassel, Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning who wielded the sword known as Dawn, and Ser Barristan the Bold who slew the last Blackfyre, Maelys and saved the Mad King from the lord of Duskendale's cells, but most of them were a mere southron fancy of no real use.
Ser Loras might be as pretty as many a maid, and he was suited only for tourneys and giving blacksmiths work with his fancy armour, yet he wasn't that bad of swordsmen and Jon figured that he'd improved somewhat by testing himself against the knight of the south. He sparred with men from the Reach and knights of the Stormlands who were here with Lord Renly.
Jon knew that Robb Stark would be surprised when the two brothers next met in the training yard.
It was Gothic Blacksky who really seemed to benefit by training with so many of the knights who were currently visiting Highgarden. Jon had sparred with Gothic many times when he'd begun learning to fight with the sword and he'd been rather poor, to begin with.
Now he was as good as Jon and still improving and it seemed to have happened very quickly ever since he'd started training with so many new people. Every time he defeated one knight he looked for the warrior who could give him more of a challenge and then would find a way to learn from those sessions in the training yard.
Jon was sometimes a little envious of his friend's rapid progress even if it wasn't a natural progression due to sheer talent and hard work. His growing skills were due to the perks he'd purchased from The Company that seemed to be able to do so much.
His growing skills were one of the talents that he didn't share with his followers. Something that gave him an unfair advantage and this made it silly for Jon to compare himself with his friend.
Gothic simply had something that allowed him to rapidly catch up to the level of those who trained him in any form of combat they learned in Westeros and he'd been practising a lot since even before they'd reached Highcastle.
It was if he knew he'd soon need the skills and given that the Lannisters would need to be defeated in battle he wasn't wrong to train like this, and Jon felt glad he'd been practising as well.
Jon had once envied his brother Robb and might have even loathed Gothic if it hadn't been so silly. He'd never been a mere bastard and no longer was thanks to King Robert, a man that he should perhaps hate. He was the sworn shield of his friend and would be more one day since his father, his true father, Eddard Stark, had promised him a keep of his own.
More than one stronghold of the First Men had fallen into run such as those in Sea Dragon Point and it would please Jon to restore one of these sights and it was enough away from Winterfell that he could avoid Lady Stark's disapproving gaze. He would have the wealth required to make his lands prosper and to build an impressive keep.
For now, he was content to travel to see more of this world and later some other worlds. He had good armour to protect him, a Valyrian steel at his side and decent friends at his side. He got to spend time with his aunt who would soon bring into the world a baby cousin and he'd even got to meet his Great-Uncle at The Wall.
He had plenty of money, he'd been able to avenge the half-brother and half-sister he'd never known by slaying the Mountain, and he'd been paired with a wilding woman who at the very least was never boring like many of the women he'd met while growing up in Winterfell. Although he wasn't sure if Ygritte and he would last in the long run as not all partnerships did.
Overall life was good for Jon Stark, even if his favourite sister was stuck up in Winterfell with most of the Stark family, and not sharing in their travels. He felt bad for Arya and promised again to bring her back gifts and stories that he could share with her upon his return.
His life would be much better if not for some small problem that had risen up during their time in Dorne. One that he now wanted to discuss with his friend now that Blacksky was taking a break.
"Okay, what is bothering you?" asked Gothic.
His friend seemed to be able to read Jon's mood despite him mimicking his father's stoic expressions, and rather than talk about it he let Blacksky read the letter he'd been carrying on his person since before the Pathfinder had left Sunspear.
"So they think she was your mother," said Gothic.
He was referring to Ashara Dayne, a noblewoman of House Dayne and the sister of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning who they knew had been killed shortly before Eddard Stark took baby Jon into his protection.
She'd committed suicide shortly after the end of Robert's Rebellion. Some believed that it was because Jon was her son with Eddard Stark and that after killing her brother Eddard had taken his son away from the woman leaving her with no reason to live.
"If they hate my father why would they want to see me?" Jon wondered
"And why then offer me a chance to claim Dawn?".
The Contractor gave it some thought. That was offered in the letter, a chance to prove his skills and to wield the sword in future battles until it was time to return the blade to Starfall until the next worth knight came along to claim it.
"You are the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen" Gothic insisted after switching to English, a form of speech that only certain members of his group and those with Tempest Jewellery would understand "I saw you ride a dragon in the show and Shenron responds to you but in the books series you're likely to be the son of Eddard Stark and Ashara Dayne, and there must be a reason for people to believe it".
At times like this Jon was more glad than normal that he ghost around. The direwolf seemed to be able to sense when he was needed. Perhaps it had something to do with how he could dream and while dreaming see through the eyes of his familiar. They were connected in ways few would ever understand.
"You have to remember that Ashara Dayne's body was never found so if she's alive and she actually sent her baby away, and if her family know it, then they could think you're her son, a man who is no longer a bastard. They could really think that you have sort of claim on Dawn" Blacksky mused "Plus they've no real reason to actually hate House Stark since Arthur Dayne wasn't actually killed by your father no matter what people claim. Howland Reed really did the deed and Arthur died in battle doing his duty".
"I know that the Sword of the Morning is a title given to a Dayne knight who is considered worthy of wielding the greatsword Dawn, a blade said to be created from the heart of a falling star," Gothic was now saying "But you might just need to be of the right bloodline. There could be some sort of test of skill you'd need to pass".
Jon was not happy about that idea.
"I know I'm no Dayne" he insisted.
Gothic shrugged.
"We don't know for one hundred percent certain that you are the baby found in the Tower of Joy," said his friend "We just know that Lyanna Stark died in childbirth and that Rhaegar Targaryen is the father of that child. It's not totally impossible that Rhaegar's son was swapped with you and that your real mother has your cousin in hiding somewhere to protect him from King Robert. But I think it is highly unlikely given you can ride a dragon, there's nothing to suggest that the Dayne's are related that strongly to the Targaryens even if Ashra Dayne had purple eyes".
"I can see why the Three-Eyed Raven might lie about it, but I saw what he saw," Gothic told Jon "R+L=J as many fans thought".
Jon needed a few moments to process all of that and to enquire about what that strange sum meant as he'd heard it before and forgotten to get a proper explanation.
"We need to go talk to my father, I mean Lord Stark," said the young knight.
Gothic had a different idea.
"Or I could look up Ashra Dayne on my Smartphone and if she's alive we use the bounty tracker to locate her, and then we could go ask her in person" he suggested, "If I bind her as a familiar she'd have to admit the truth".
Jon found himself torn by this idea as while having Gothic bind someone who might be his mother seemed wrong she could be freed if she turned out to actually be his mother. Besides, it was if Robb, Sansa or Arya minded being familiars, if anything they seemed better than before.
"No let's talk to father about this" he insisted "I'm sure he'll tell me the truth once he sees this letter, but if I sense he is lying to protect someone I will request that he does one of those DNA tests you mentioned".
It was bound to be a very interesting conversation.
GOT - Part 63
Highgarden. The Reach.
"Stannis can't be king," stated Renly Baratheon
Well, it was never going to happen because by now Black Widow had reported that she'd found Stannis and most of his household dead before she'd even gotten to do the deed. It was that blasted Red Woman, who I was going to have to deal with who'd killed them and somehow gotten away with it, and that was something I'd handle later. Bloody fanatics.
For now, I needed to focus on Lord Renly and Ser Loras, who had invited me into Renly's room here at Highgarden, and they'd insisted that I come alone, not that this stopped me from bringing Cameron into the room with me. One of my hosts might have objected if they gave any mind to what seemed to be a mere serving girl. No wonder Varys's little birds were so successful you could have one in the room with you and never realise it.
Given where he was standing I assumed that Ser Loras was here to kill me if I spoke any words that Renly didn't like. Not that this work with Cameron standing nearby and Faith just outside the door. She could hear every word thanks to her Slayer hearing and Jon would know something was wrong as soon Faith kicked down the door.
"Why would he be?" I asked, "He's not the heir".
Renly smirked at me, acting as if he had some great secret to share.
"Let's just say that the line of succession isn't as clear as it looks," he told me.
He thought himself such a clever sod.
"Because none of the heirs to the throne are actually Robert's children," I said.
Renly looked upset that I'd stolen his chance to be all smug.
"Even Eddard Stark has figured it out" I informed Renly "And I assume that you want my support in claiming the Iron Throne".
The Prancing Stag, as he was sometimes known, wouldn't be such a bad caretaker for the Seven Kingdoms if I had some control over him. Soon news of Stannis's death would spread this far and Robert wasn't long for this world so I just needed to make sure that Renly didn't rush into anything or do anything too stupid.
"I can see that your man for straight talk, Lord Blacksky" reasoned the potential future king "So yes I want your support for my claim to the Iron Throne. Your airship can travel much faster than any messenger and I might need important supplies moved or a team of knights quickly take a distant location, but mostly what I need is one of your Valyrian steel swords. I need my own Blackfyre".
Since I'd only sold or given away a few of the rare weapons I had enough left for this deal. I also understood how the magical swords are status symbols here in Westeros so if Renly had one he'd look more the part of a king to the nobles.
"In exchange, I'll confirm your position as Master of Coin and find you some nice castle" he offered "Somewhere warmer than wherever Eddard Stark wants to put you".
Those things held no interest for me.
"Actually, Your Grace," I said, letting him hear the term of address so he'd get used to it "I'm not planning on settling in Westeros in the long term so would be willing to trade me one of those dragon skulls you have in the basement of the Red Keep for one of my swords?".
For me, dragon bone was worth more than Valyrian steel because I know how the steel was made even I didn't wish to make any more at this time.
"Those ghastly things down in the lower levels," Renly remarked "All they do is attract dust. Take three if you like".
I would since the bones were bound to have magical properties and I was thinking of setting up a museum within my little universe. If nothing else I should save a few just in case the others get smashed and my son wanted one in his throne room.
"Thank you, Your Grace" I replied.
He liked hearing that.
"Now if I might offer some advice?" I requested.
He gestured for me to do so.
"It seems obvious to me that you're here gathering support" I was now saying "All those Stormlander and Reach Knights aren't here for any tourney".
Mostly because there wasn't one. That might have drawn King Robert here.
"But I don't think you're going to go up against your eldest brother," I went on to say "There's no need. His vices are catching up to him and if those don't kill him the war with the coming war with the Lannisters will".
Lord Renly, didn't make any protests or comments.
"Once King Robert is dead you'll have to contend with both Stannis and the Lannisters," I pointed out "Might I suggest supporting the war against the Lannisters so that can't just sit back while your house battles itself".
Lord Renly frowned at me.
"Stannis will never just step aside no matter how much he needs my help to crush the Lannisters," he said.
That was true and the man's inflexibility was one of the reasons why I'd needed to remove his piece from the game of thrones.
"Of course, he won't" I agreed "But you need to deal with one enemy at a
time and wars can be messy. Both of your older brothers could die in the fighting and then there would be no need for Baratheon to fight Baratheon. And if you do need to fight afterwards you can do so without the Lannisters scheming to stab you in the back".
Renly looked at his lover and for a moment I wondered if Cameron was about to kill them both, only Loras moved around the room to stand behind his boyfriend.
"If you support the war against the Lannisters you'll be seen as a true leader when you win some victories and you'll have plenty of chances to convince others of your ability to rule them as their king," I said.
Renly was thinking over my words.
"My intention was to seize Kingslanding as soon as Robert dies," he told me.
I gave this some consideration.
"The Gold Cloaks would be the key to that. I could try to secure their support as the Master of Coin is the one who pays them" I said, "And if Robert were to die you could move your army quickly to the city and have the Gold Cloaks holding upon the gates for you".
Janos Slynt, the commander of the city watch would be the key to that and I knew he could be bribed as well as controlled in other ways.
"My concern over Kingslanding is Lord Stark" Renly admitted to me "He'll support Stannis over me".
Not actually a problem once news got out, but since I didn't want to be linked to Stannis's death I would have to be careful with what words I used. As for Robert I'd had an odd dream last night about a wounded fat stag walking through a field of animal corpses and then dropping dead from an arrow wound. I figured that was some sort of prophetic dreams that dragonriders sometimes get and that Robert would soon die in battle.
"I'm good friends with Lord Stark" I mentioned "He might back you if it meant preventing another war".
Stannis would be known as dead by the time I got to Kingslanding so I wouldn't have to convince him of anything as he would see Renly as the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
"As soon as Robert dies I'll march for Kingslanding" stated Renly "Anything you can do to smooth my path will be rewarded".
Then the King just needed to die killing Lannister bannermen and I'd have my puppet king on the throne. To help with that I offered Lord Renly and Ser Loras their own bracelets.
I didn't care that Renly would no heir, if anything that would make things easier for when it become time for a new ass to sit on that ugly sword throne as there'd be little chance of little princes or princess in the way. I was no Tywin Lannister, I wouldn't kill babies
GOT - Part 64
Grand Manor. Extradimensional Space.
"I was talking to your other wife," Yara Greyjoy told me as I entered Dany's bedroom to find them lying on the bed together "And she was telling me all about your plan to put a son of yours on the Iron Throne".
Her words quickly got my full attention.
"Other wife?" I asked.
I was fairly certain that I'd only ever been a groom the one time and I'd barely tolerated the whole wedding thing back then.
"Ironborn can have more than one wife" Yara explained to me "There are rock wives, who are the mother of the children who inherit and salt wives, both of which can be taken on raids. A rock wife has to be Ironborn and I am Ironborn so our children could inherit. The rest of your women are only salt wives by the laws of my people, any children you have with them have no inheritance, at least not in the Iron Islands".
Already I had an idea of where this was going. Yara like Dany had realised that given how hard it would be to rule openly as queen in a male-dominated society it made sense to have a son and then to advise their sons as the queen-mother. She would still need gold, weapons and support, as well as someone to sire a child who wasn't interested in claiming the throne for himself.
"I'm not Ironborn" I pointed out.
And I wouldn't want to be they were a useless bunch of savages. They were nothing more than Dothraki with boats.
"But I am Ironborn, the daughter of Balon Greyjoy," reminded Yara, "And you're the captain of the most powerful ship in the world. Captains are important people to the Ironborn and the more powerful the ship the more important the captain is. Who would dare claim that our son wasn't fit to wear the driftwood crown?".
Anyone who argued against that could have their ship sunk by the laser cannons of the Pathfinder.
"So I assume you want me to father a son who you can put on the Seastone Throne," I said.
Rather than reply to that verbally, Yara went ahead and started undressing, which was not unexpected if she wanted to get with the baby-making right now, and after she'd gotten naked she began to pleasure herself for a bit while keeping eye contact with me. Her intentions couldn't have been more clear even with a neon sign above her head.
"We're going to need more than that" Dany said as she began to undress.
Before long I was watching a naked Daenerys Stormborn lying on her bed and between her thighs was the head of an equally naked Yara Greyjoy. The ease that they got into this let me know that they'd done this before despite Yara having not been with us for that long. Not that I was shocked that more of my waifu were getting their needs met by each other than just Tara and Amy. The bindings helped with this.
By now it seemed as if I was going to go unnoticed by the two women on the bed for a while as this was more than a show so I sat down in a chair next to the table in the room. Yara proved to be very talented at getting my magical princess off this way so it didn't take long for the pirate captain's work to be done.
"I hoped you enjoyed watching that," said Dany.
The show hadn't gone for very long, but it had been fun to watch, and I was glad that these two had become so close. Motherhood wasn't easy and so it would be good for them to be able to depend on each other.
"I did" I admitted.
Yara turned around and look at me, her pale ass sticking up into the air.
"Why are you still dressed?" she asked, "Don't you want to fuck me?".
I began to undress as the two women on the bed watched me get naked. They liked what they saw and to be fair The Company had done good work giving me a body that other men would sell their souls for.
"Come lie down" instructed Yara "I'm gonna get my baby".
I did as she wished with a shrug since I felt sure that I'd greatly enjoy it.
"Don't mind me. I'll just watch," Daenerys said
Yara moved to crouch over me and once she'd settled the two women kissed for a moment. Then Yara turned her attention to me and began by rubbing her wet cunt on my dick without it leading to any penetration. Back and forth she went, slowly and then a little faster making sure that I felt every second of it as Dany watched us.
Then she spun around so her back was to me and so I could see her arse, which she knew I liked to look at, and then lowered her hips slowly and moaned as the tip of my cock penetrated her.
"Are you watching, Dany?" I heard her ask.
When Dany confirmed that she was indeed watching Yara dropped the rest of the way down in one swift, sudden movement, taking all of me inside her warm, wet Ironborn cunt. Then she began to ride me, using her pussy in an attempt to milk my seed out of my balls.
"I'm impressed you're able to ride him so easily" commented my wife "I was under the impression that you mostly slept with other women".
That Yara could reply at all right now given how focused she'd become on the movements of her body, was something that impressed me.
"I've practised this more a few times" she admitted, "I needed to learn how to make a man satisfied at an early age so that I could get what I wanted from him. Sometimes it's better to just lie there and let him do what he wants, but that gets boring".
Even now these two couldn't help chatting. Maybe bringing them together hadn't been such a good idea.
"I'm not sure I'll ever get that good at riding his cock," Dany admitted.
She actually sounded a bit insecure to me, which was just crazy as in my experience nothing felt as good as a Targaryen's pussy aside from a Slayer's cunt.
"It's all about moving your hips the right way," Yara said.
As if to drive her point home, the women from the Iron Islands started bouncing on me harder and harder, with her arse slapping against me every time she descended, jiggling as it moved.
She might object if I spanked that ass, but I didn't care as she was mine to do with as I pleased despite her seeming to be in control of this situation. Yara just kept going without comment and without slapping my hands away. She barely seemed to notice what I was doing which only encouraged me to smack her backside even more.
"He smacks my backside all the time" Dany commented.
Yara suggested that they spank each other while in front of me sometime soon, and while this might be just a tease it had an effect on me. The pirate noticed this and began to encourage me to cum inside her.
"Yes, give me your seed!" Yara shouted out loud enough for the whole house to hear "Give it all to me! squirt a brat into me, my lord!".
Since I couldn't refuse such an invitation I did as requested and did what would be required to knock up the ruler of the Iron Islands. I'd use the app on my Smartphone later to make her pregnant. I might make her beg first to see how serious she was about the whole thing.
.
GOT - Part 65
Throne Room. The Red Keep.
She'd gone by many names during the course of her rarely ever dull life. She'd been Natasha Romanoff, Natalia Romanov, and sometimes Natalie Roman, as well as many others names, and in terms of personality, she was who the mission needed her to be.
At least that was what she remembered. She could recall her training, the surgeries, the missions, joining SHIELD, becoming an Avenger. It all felt as it had happened to someone else now she was bound to Gothic. Not that she really minded and it wasn't as if her skills were going to waste.
In terms of her role, she would always be Black Widow, an assassin, a spy, a saboteur, a bodyguard, whatever her master wanted her to be. She'd recently become a failed assassin, through no fault of her own, and now she was finally getting to the end of this very annoying escort mission.
She'd travelled to Dragonstone and made it so that she could pass as one of the locals, and she'd even made her way into the castle, having replaced one of the serving girls, a native who she'd been able to avoid killing, and she'd been able to get close enough to the island's lord to cleanly end him.
Then just as she was about to kill Lord Stannis before making her escape she'd found most of the man's household dead, including Stannis's only child, with Melisandre, the bloody witch, having somehow convinced the guards that a Lannister spy had poisoned them all.
Then in all the confusion as Widow was leaving Melisandre had decided to tag along. Since she had no desire to bring the evil bitch to Grand Manor that meant Widow had no choice but to take Melisandre to Kingslanding and to met with Gothic once there.
Thankfully her boss didn't take long to make it to the Red Keep, and Widow was grateful that she could now hand the witch over to her lord. The women had not shut about how Gothic was the true Prince Who Was Promised and how she'd killed the false prince for her true master.
Not that Melisandre really knew much about Gothic, other than how he'd used fire to destroy the servants of the Great Other, and that the weapon he'd used was called Lightbringer. Well, nuclear blasts were quite bright, something Widow knew first hand so it wasn't a terrible name for the weapon.
Having Melisandre talk about how Gothic had saved the world hadn't been too bad because he had done that, sure it had been a group effort but the end result was that her lord could be seen as this Azor Ahai person if you ignored the salt and smoke part.
No, what annoyed Widow was Melisandre's effort to convert her to the faith of some evil fire god that the witch worshipped. If Gothic hadn't ordered her to bring the Red Woman to him then Widow would have choked the bitch to death.
The Red Keep was packed with people and it wasn't hard to sneak in given all the preparations for war. She found her lord, boss, master, captain, whatever it was he wanted her to call him, looking down on the Iron Throne as The King spoke with his council.
Given that Gothic was a member of the Small Council he should be down there with them, but this wasn't the business of the kingdom, this was just his concern. The Contractor had moved some distance away from his two female bodyguards, Cameron and Faith, even Jon, his sworn shield and best friend, wouldn't be privy to what happened next. Although Cameron and Faith might hear them given their enhanced senses.
"I brought her as you asked," said Widow "She killed Stannis before I even had the chance".
The spy hadn't really wanted to kill the Lord of Dragonstone, but she'd understand that it had needed to be done to prevent a war between Stannis and his younger brother.
It was a simple matter of numbers. Kill one man to prevent the deaths of thousands. Plus the man had been willing to burn his own daughter alive so it made sense to kill him rather than the younger brother.
"The Prince Who Was Promised," said the Red Witch "You are Azor Ahai, the one who slew the Cold Ones with fire and light".
More or less.
"Command me, my prince, I am yours," she swore.
Gothic took out a piece of Tempest Jewellery, one that was meant to go around the ankle.
"Put this on and then go out into the city" The Contractor commanded "You will tend to the poor as best you can for a few days. I will call for you when I am ready".
The witch did as she was ordered not daring to question her prince.
"As Azor Ahai commands," she said.
With that, she turned to leave. The assassin wondered if the witch would even make it out of the Red Keep before she managed to annoy someone to end up locked away in the dungeons.
"Don't tell me you're going to keep her?" asked Widow.
Bindings or not she'd end up killing the priestess.
"No, I just want her out of the way until the bindings take effect, then I'll sell her" promised Gothic "I can't trust her even if she was bound to me. She could betray me. She might not see it that way, but if she turned on Stannis so easily she could turn on me".
Fanatics were too dangerous to ever be trusted. Something else Widow knew from her own experiences.
"I know things didn't work out as we expected" Gothic was now saying "But you did a good job. Melisandre is worth plenty of points".
So it hadn't been a total waste of her time going to Dragonstone.
"I'll be dealing with some political matters for a while," her master told her "So I want you to go get some rest".
She'd like that. It had been far for Widow to have the chance to simply put her feet up and relax, and she'd certainly earned some time off.
GOT - Part 66
Small Council Chamber. The Red Keep.
"So the king didn't pulverise Joffrey's skull," I said as to the Hand of the King as I walked into the meeting room "Lord Stark, I owe you a coke".
Okay so we'd never actually made a bet on the bastard's life, but I was impressed that Eddard had been able to talk Robert out of bashing the little sadist's skull with a Warhammer. Sure Joffrey was one of my familiars, it was just that I couldn't stand to be in his presence and I'd only bound him so he wouldn't torment Sansa (although I'd done that for the Stark family and for her) and in case he became king despite my plans.
"I don't know what you mean by a coke," Eddard said to me "And I'd rather you not make jokes about Robert killing any child"
Perhaps that was in poor taste. Stark hadn't seen what I'd seen Joffrey do, he still saw a whiny child. Besides, he was still sore about what happened to Elia's children. Oberyn didn't seem offended judging by his smirk.
"I apologise," I told the Lord-Paramount.
With that, I took my seat.
"The King saw the wisdom of keeping Tywin Lannister's grandson as a sort of ward, or perhaps hostage is a better word," Eddard told me "We will be going to war with House Lannister very soon and we may need to free Joffrey as part of peace settlement".
If Tywin Lannister wanted the boy he was welcome to the git.
"My lords, I'm sorry to say that Maester Pycelle passed away last night" Eddard informed us "He departed peacefully in sleep, thank the gods".
In reality, he'd been murdered by me, well not directly I had Cameron (Widow was on a break) go and poison the man with something not found in this world, it wouldn't have gotten past someone doing an autopsy in my world, but in this one the poison made it look as if he'd died in his sleep.
"We will have to wait for the Citadel to send us a new Grand Maester," said Lord Stark.
Pycelle had served House Lannister for many years, so he'd needed to go and since I was no monster I'd made sure he had a painless death. The new Maester might serve the Lannisters as well, so it was good that he'd take a while to get here.
The Conclave, the ruling body at the Citadel, would elect a new Grand Maester, and while my bound Archmaester believed in the grand conspiracy my spying through glass candles showed me that the Archmaesters were not as united as it might seem. There were a few factions within the Citadel and not all of them had an anti-magic agenda so the Conclave was not the great and hidden power it might seem to be.
"The King has approved your appointments and given his blessing for Prince Renly to marry your daughter Lord Tyrell," Eddard told Mace "The wedding will take as soon as possible to ensure that the succession is secured".
Robert would not have been happy about marrying his brother to the Tyrells since he didn't like that family, but he needed their support, and he didn't want his dynasty to die with him so Renly needed to marry fast.
"Before we discuss the war I think we should address the matter of the council's new members and the positions that are left unfilled" Eddard declared "While we are looking for a more permanent Master of Coin, Lord Blacksky has agreed to stay with us and help the crown to manage the treasury until we find someone suited for the role".
As the man in charge of the treasury, I knew that The Iron Throne couldn't afford a war so it was lucky that the Tyrell family was willing to fund one.
"Prince Oberyn will serve as Master of Whispers as we attempt to rebuild Varys's spy network" Eddard was now saying.
Not an easy task, but it got the prince onto the Small Council and that was what mattered to my plans.
"That will take some time" Oberyn informed us all "I will be able to hire some agents of my own, and I could do more if the crown will fund my operation".
I'd see to that.
"And Lord Tyrell as taken the position of Master of Laws now that Lord Renly is now Crown-Prince Renly and wishes to focus on other duties," said Stark.
Before the Tyrell lord could say anything Eddard wisely kept going.
"Also we have Janos Slynt with us, the Lord-Commander of the City-Watch," he added.
Slynt was one of my familiars and here at my recommendation as he'd been on the Small Council in the show and it made sense to take a firmer hand with the Watch during the turmoil ahead. If the city was attacked Stark would need more control over the Watch so as to turn it into a force that could help defend the city.
"I will serve as best I can" Slynt promised.
Eddard chose to ignore that. He clearly didn't like Janos and I didn't blame him even if we did need the man. If he needed replacing I'd just sell him to The Company. They might require people as organ donors, people for target practice, or lab rats.
"I spoke with the king about restoring Ser Barristan to Small Council as the Commander of the Kingsguard does traditionally have a seat on the council" Eddard informed the group "Ser Barristan your focus will be ensuring that the King and Prince Renly are well guarded by your brotherhood. They will need plenty of guards, you will select and oversee men from the Stormlands and the Reach. Robert will need an honour guard when he leaves the city for the march on the Westerlands. I also need you to find new members for the Kingsguard".
Selmy didn't talk he just signalled his acceptance. However, Mace Tyrell felt the need to speak.
"Loras has expressed an interest in guarding Prince Renly," he let us know.
That could cause problems.
"Isn't Loras your sole heir?" I asked.
That was an issue on the show I felt sure.
"My mother is against it, but I don't see the concern," said Mace "The Tyrell family is large, I have nephews and younger cousins".
Not that it mattered to me, but it would matter to Loras who was one of my many families. He wanted to join the Kingsguard so that he could stay close to his boyfriend. I was worried about Renly's wife not getting pregnant soon after they were married. I would need to talk to the new prince about artificial insemination, or using a surrogate father who looked like Renly. Perhaps Gendry the bastard of King Robert? They'd only need to fuck once.
"Robert will decide" stated Eddard before he changed the subject "Now on to the matter of our missing council members".
We still lacked a Master of Ships since there hadn't been time to find someone with experience in commanding seagoing vessels and then get them here.
"We have two candidates we need to consider" the Hand went on to say "For the position of Master of Coin I would like to put forward Lord Wyman Manderly of White Harbor and for Master of Ships it has been suggested to me that we call upon Lord Paxter Redwyne".
Manderly ruled the only city in the north and his family was very wealthy. They didn't have Lannister or Tyrell levels of wealth, but they knew how to manage money.
"I've met Lord Manderly. I'd happily hand over my duties to him," I said.
Given how close to full my progress bar had become I needed a replacement sooner rather than later.
"Then if no one objects I will call upon Lord Manderly" Eddard declared.
No one objected and we moved on to the matter of Paxter Redwyne. The Redwynes had one of the three most powerful fleets of the Seven Kingdoms, the others being the Iron Fleet of the Iron Islands and the royal fleet of the Iron Throne which was currently leaderless.
"That will put a lot of power in men from The North and The Reach" pointed out the prince of Dorne "Why not call upon someone from the Riverlands or the Vale, or even the Crownlands?".
"Because the Vale is closed off," said Lord Stark "My good-sister refuses to answer any summons so I have commanded Lord Yon Royce to take command of the Vale, but the Arryns have a castle that will take time to siege since they will have to starve Lysa Arryn out of her late husband's home and bring her here".
That would keep the Vale busy for a good long while.
"The Crownlands are a possibility if we can find someone suitable. As for the Riverlands, they are not are preparing well for war and Hoster Tully is ill" Eddard went on to say "The Blackfish has taken command of Riverrun, but the other River Lords are bickering among themselves and I wouldn't trust any of the Freys with my coin purse never mind the treasury".
No wonder Tywin so easily crushed the Riverlands in the main timeline, if the northern army hadn't turned up there wouldn't have been much left of the Riverlands by later seasons.
"A shame since the Lannister will invade that kingdom," I predicted.
I didn't need any prophetic dream to tell me that.
"It would force us to turn our eyes from the Westerlands," said the prince.
Mace Tyrell was clearly confused.
"Wouldn't he march on Kingslanding and lay siege to the city?" the Reach Lord asked.
That was about as advanced as Mace's plans got. During Robert's Rebellion, he'd marched his army to Storm's End and then spent the war trying to starve out Stannis. It had been a total waste of time and if Mace had done anything smarter he could have won the war for the Targaryens. Which perhaps he hadn't wanted to do or possibly his mother, the woman who really ran the Reach, hadn't for some reason.
"No he will invade the Riverlands to keep us out of the Westerlands" stated Lord Stark "He will pick the fields and storehouses of that kingdom clean to feed his own armies and he will have his men burn what he can't take, so as to lessen the strain on his supply lines. We will have to send our own armies into the Riverlands to fight where he wishes us to fight, and we'll have to stretch our supply lines since they'll be no way for us to resupply in the Riverlands if the Lannisters burn it all".
Our side would have the bigger armies sure, but that just meant it would all cost more to keep going, and unlike Tywin our leader, King Robert, doesn't have such a firm grip on his men. His lords will bicker with each other. Add to that we'll have to retake every keep and castle in the Riverlands. It will be long and bloody work.
One army, a real army, united behind one leader with one purpose.
Tywin couldn't win the war in a fair fight, but he could make it drag on and then find some way of turning his enemies against each other. Which was why I would need to end the war and kill Tywin as quickly as possible, or I could just leave and let the natives fight it out. No Tywin needed to be dealt with not just because it suited my plans, but because he was an evil git.
"We best begin making our plans," said Eddard "Robert wants to start the march as soon as Renly is married".
I really didn't want to go to another wedding. Alas, it would be expected of me to attend. Lucky I had a wife and therefore didn't need to find a date.